


Postponement

by Taste_of_Suburbia



Series: an unquiet mind [15]
Category: From Paris with Love (2010)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Creatures & Monsters, Alternate Universe - Supernatural Hunters, And is prepared to use candy as bribery, Angst, Cuddling & Snuggling, Depression, Established Relationship, Exhaustion, Family, Fluff, Friendship, Halloween, Horror, Hunters & Hunting, Hurt/Comfort, Lazy Afternoon, M/M, Prophetic Visions, Romance, Wax has a sweet tooth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-31
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2021-01-15 03:55:15
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,125
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21247061
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Taste_of_Suburbia/pseuds/Taste_of_Suburbia
Summary: Halloween was like a slap in the face to Reece, a knife nicking his arteries until he bled out all motivation and trust and responsibility, until there was nothing left but self-preservation.But therewereworst things.





	Postponement

**Author's Note:**

> What better way to try to get in the Halloween spirit than writing a few ficlets for my [current] favorite fandom? Even if one of my characters would rather I leave him out of it. Per the below mini series, I put this in the treats category. 
> 
> **Series:** an unquiet mind
> 
> **mini series:** tricks and treats and the in-between: _Part 2:_ treats  
_Part 1:_ Skinned Flesh - [HERE.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21246911)  
_Part 3/3:_ Things In Life We Can't Control - [HERE.](https://archiveofourown.org/works/21276953)

Reece threw an arm over his eyes, trying to steady himself by slowing the world down some, limiting his line of sight and intensity of concentration. The lumpy mattress dug in against his back but it was as solid a place to fall as any, probably even better in the long run than the couch.

A mostly untouched glass of wine rested on the small side table, which he’d have to reach for and yet had no interest in doing.

Shedding his clothes wasted too much energy, sloughing off his wearied and bruised skin in the shower screamed unnecessary exhaustion, and trying to hold the world in place with memories and recollections bore no enticements.

Reece slipped through the cracks of awareness, letting his guard down independent of headphones or meditation or the limits of darkness. There weren’t many moments where Reece had this luxury: being able to hide away for a while without the demands of the job or even, dare he say it, the demands of one Charlie Wax. Not that his partner never unwound, just that his idea of relaxing and Reece’s were definitely not the same.

Quiet time, that’s what Reece needed as childish and pathetic as it sounded.

Then again, when your life was a dizzying miasma of shootouts and chases and visions pounding his brain while he was trying to walk or talk or think or hunt, just generally trying to live his life, who wouldn’t want a little quiet time once in a while?

Reece hadn’t expected this, however: on the verge of Halloween and no assignment or vision or so much as a headache signaling the onset of a vision. Maybe he could actually unwind for a change.

And then the door was unlocked and opened and all of Reece’s perfectly reasonable hopes were sucked down the drain.

“You good in there or have you finally cracked yet?”

Reece groaned in response, subsequently shocked at its existence. Wax waved him off just as well, unpacking groceries or takeout food or maybe even those Halloween decorations he had mentioned hours or days ago, it didn’t much matter which.

It hadn’t taken many years for the holiday to lose its appeal when every case inflicted monster after monster on the world at large and therefore on them. Some days all that stood between them and certain death was one knife stroke or one bullet enough, a dash of luck, a weakness exploited when all of his and Wax’s human weaknesses lay bare for manipulation.

Halloween was like a slap in the face to Reece, a knife nicking his arteries until he bled out all motivation and trust and responsibility, until there was nothing left but self-preservation.

There were monsters enough without a whole day dedicated to them. A darkness deep and viscous and deadly enough that it needed no further voice on even one day of the year. There was nothing to be celebrated in it; in fact, it was the equivalent of millions of people laughing in the faces of Reece and Wax and the agency, laughing at Reece especially, taunting him to get down on his knees and strip himself of all his defenses and laugh right along with them, whittling Reece down until mere pinpricks of irritation against his sanity degraded into pain and molded into betrayal.

Reece peered over at the alarm clock against his better judgment to find that a mere forty-five minutes had evaporated at the edges of his consciousness.

It was late afternoon; there hadn’t been many lazy, late afternoons of late.

He heard some cabinets opening and closing and then Wax coming near the bed earlier than expected. Reece shifted, surprised at Wax not retreating to the living room with an overflowing bowl of popcorn and a stack of DVDs. He opened his eyes to slits to watch him strip off his leather jacket, one which Reece suddenly had the longing to wrap himself in, and closed them again when his face was rudely pressed into Wax’s lower back as he sat down and stripped off his shoes.

“Should I be worried?”

Reece shook his head, words muffled as he breathed them into Wax’s sun-warmed skin. “Just trying to tune out for a while.”

Wax didn’t say anything else after that, not even a grunt of assent. He twisted and pressed his face into Reece’s shoulder and after a number of seconds, Reece curled into him, allowing Wax to envelop him in his warmth. It was refreshing not to have Wax pressure him into sex or going out for a coffee or putting up decorations. Just to have his partner laying beside him, silent and still, it was something Reece vowed never to take for granted. Wax was always moving, every action supposedly without a thought but Reece knew better.

Wax strategized better than any other person he’d ever met, he just did it so effortlessly that he seemed to act without any prior planning. But he was never still like this, laying around doing nothing.

He pressed his smile deeply into his partner’s chest. “Hey, Wax?”

“Yeah, Reece cup?” His fingers came up to cup Reece’s face, thumb tracing the outlines of his unclouded happiness, causing him to shiver in sensitivity. He was close enough to want Wax at this moment and yet not so much that it was overwhelming, something Reece deeply appreciated.

And Reece preened with affection at the pet-name. “Thanks.”

“Sure.” Wax shifted, just enough to tuck Reece's head under his chin. “Just so long as you know I’ve got five bags of decorations that need to be emptied and put up later.” Expecting Reece’s noise of protest before it was even made, he added, “There’s candy corn in it for you too.”

Like that mattered. Wax was like a little kid with his forever unsatisfied sweet tooth, and it was no secret that candy corn was his treat of choice when it came to Halloween and the month leading up to it. Still, for Wax to share his candy with him, that was a feat in and of itself.

As long as it was later, he mused,  _much _ later. Realizing Wax's fingers pushing through his hair were more of an incentive to rest than a distraction, Reece, perhaps just a bit unrealistically, reasoned that he would be up for anything as long as it was later and as long as they weren’t wrapping their heads over and over around a case until they almost unraveled and  _especially _ as long as Wax was there, goading Reece into laughing just a little too hard and eating just a little too much candy and feeling just a little too happy and generous and complete. 

There  _were _ worst things. 

**FIN**


End file.
